Sandvik roadheaders chosen for highway project in Australia

Lend Lease - Bouygues Joint Venture has awarded Sandvik Mining and Construction Australia a contract to provide the majority of roadheaders required for the NorthConnex highway tunnel project in Sydney, Australia. Thirteen out of the nineteen roadheaders required for the project will be supplied by Sandvik consisting of six MT720 units, one MT620 and six MT520 units. This represents the largest single order for Sandvik tunneling roadheaders since the order received for the Sochi Olympic Park excavation over five years ago.

Strategically important highway project

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The NSW Government, Transurban and the M7 Westlink Shareholders (the Project Sponsors) are in process to build, operate and maintain a tolled motorway linking the M1 Pacific Motorway at Wahroonga to the Hills M2 Motorway at West Pennant Hills – called NorthConnex. When complete, it will link Sydney's north to the Orbital network, and form part of the National Highway route. The scheme includes twin motorway tunnels around nine kilometres in length, with two lanes and a breakdown lane in each direction, as well as an increased height clearance of 5.3m with a speed limit of 80 km/h. Each tunnel will be built with long term capacity for three lanes, but will initially operate with two lanes and a breakdown lane in each direction

Lend Lease - Bouygues Joint Venture

The Lend Lease - Bouygues Joint Venture (LLB JV) was formed originally to construct the East West Link project in Melbourne and NorthConnex. The group was the successful bidder on both projects, but following the cancellation of the East West Link project the focus switched to NorthConnex. Lend Lease is globally operating Australian construction company and Bouygues is one of the largest construction companies in the world, with its headquarters located in France. The Joint Venture is a 50-50 partnership.

Equipment and service excellence

Mechanical cutting with roadheaders was selected as the most suitable excavation method for NorthConnex. This was due to the large number of different tunnel profiles (intersections, ramps, shafts) in the project scope, and the accurate excavation profile required. LLB JV selected Sandvik roadheaders based on past experience being impressed by the performance and reliability of the equipment, as well as Sandvik's support capability in Australia.

Phil Marshall, the Tunneling Plant Manager of the LLB JV project, highlighted the importance of reliability and high performance of the equipment in order to meet the tough project requirements. He also mentioned that a good working relationship with the supplier being very important for so that any issues can be resolved rapidly. Thirteen out of the nineteen roadheaders required for the project are being supplied by Sandvik, and will consist of six MT720 units, one MT620 (from Bouygues' own equipment fleet), and six MT520 units.